Butterbur Leaves
by BridgitKiido
Summary: After losing the Shaman Tournament, Horo Horo is upset that he is unable to save the butterbur fields. But miracles do happen every once in a while. Oneshot, no pairings.


Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. There, I said it.

Timeline Notes: This fic is post series. Doesn't really matter which, except that Yoh is Shaman King.

**Butterbur Leaves**

by BridgitKiido

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"I'll just make your dream come true when I become the Shaman King!"

Yeah, that's what Yoh had told him, way back during their first tournament battle. Now that everything was over, it all seemed so long ago. And not in the good way either.

Sure, the shaman tournament had not been a total loss – Hao had not become the Shaman King, after all, which meant that hope still existed for the human race.

But unfortunately, _he_ hadn't won either. Which meant that his friends, the Koropukkur, were more or less doomed.

Horo reflected on all that had happened as he walked into what was now a barren landscape of soil nearly unsuitable for life, which was, like pretty much everything in the immediate area, covered in a thin layer of dusty snow. This particular field had once been filled with butterbur plants – and had been a thriving habitat for the Koropukkur.

Unfortunately, in the years he'd been away, a well-known company had decided to build, of all things, a senior citizen center in that field, of all the places it could have been built. The workers had, without permission to do so, burned all of the butterbur in the field away and were just about to begin the actual construction when the nearby villages pointed out that they had no permission. The workers were kicked out and forbidden from returning, although not before the field was beyond repair.

If he'd become the Shaman King, this would have been one of the many butterbur fields Horo would have restored. But unfortunately, he had not. And ever since Yoh had, the brown-haired boy hadn't been seen very often at all, and Horo was beginning to doubt the promise his friend had made oh so long ago.

The Ainu walked a little farther into the field and reached a small hill. It wasn't too tall, but Horo had many memories of riding his snowboard down this hill while surrounded by his Koropukkur friends. And thus, thinking that maybe a quick ride for old times' sake might take his mind off things, he began to climb the hill, snowboard in hand.

When he had climbed about half-way up the hill, the wind picked up a bit, blowing a large quantity of the dusty snow into the air and making the visibility equivalent to a thick fog. But Horo ignored it.

When he reached the top of the hill, Horo took a quick look around and could just see the figure of a boy kneeling on the ground below, doing something as though he was tending to a small plant. The mysterious person then stood up and tossed something into the air, and Horo thought for a moment, _could… could that be… Yoh?_

As the figure disappeared, however, Horo shook slightly and dismissed the thought. Sure, the person had _looked_ like Yoh, but it could have been just about anyone in the poor visibility.

The blue-haired shaman then stepped onto his snowboard and began to ride it skillfully down the hill. For just one moment, he was a young kid again, happily doing what he liked best, and nothing could upset him.

When he reached the bottom of the hill, however, his sorrow doubled in strength. Years ago, when the field had been full of butterbur leaves, the Ainu had ridden down this hill only to be greeted at the end by a small group of Koropukkur. Now, except for Kororo (who was sitting comfortably inside the shaman's hair), there were none there. It just wasn't the same.

"Big brother!" came a female voice from the other side of the field. Horo couldn't quite see who it was, due to the lingering snowy fog, but he'd recognize the voice of his little sister, Pirika, anywhere. "Come on, big brother! It's time to go see our family!"

_Oh yeah, that's right_, Horo thought. That was one of the major reasons why he'd come to this field in the first place. He'd never really liked his family all that much, and he certainly wasn't looking forward to telling them that he hadn't won the tournament, thus failing the Koropukkur whom he had tried so desperately to save.

Horo started to head toward where his sister's voice was coming from, when he stopped, having noticed a small pile of snow on the ground that hadn't been there before. He brushed away the snow, and smiled. A small tear rolled down his cheek, but he ignored it, no matter how likely it was to freeze in this weather.

"Big Brother!" Pirika's tone was becoming more agitated.

"Coming!" Horo shouted back, and he ran off to join his sister.

_I guess,_ he thought as he caught up to her, _he kept his promise after all._

All across the field, tiny butterbur sprouts were beginning to grow from seeds that were just beginning to take root. Where Horo had brushed away the snow, however, was a larger leaf, this one almost full-sized. It was different from the other leaves in more ways than size, however, because parts of its coloration made odd markings that looked almost like writing. If one was to assume that it was indeed writing, they would have seen the following message:

_Horo Horo,_

_Don't worry, I didn't forget. And remember – everything will work out._

_Yoh_

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_Author's Note: This fic was written almost a year ago as an entry for a contest in Shaman King Headquarters, a guild on Neopets dot com. I've finally decided that, since that contest is long over, I'd put this up here for all to see with only a couple of minor edits. I hope you like it!_


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